Adam.M Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 Hey guys. I don't know if this is normal at all, as all the amp's I've had before have been valve amp's with standby switches. When I turn my amp head on, (ashdown EB180, does the job) it makes a loud bassy boom/bang/pop noise through the speaker, then when turning off a high pitched squeal and then a pop a few seconds later. It didn't worry me much at first, figured it was a solid state thing and the stored up power in the amps capacitors had to go somewhere but... tried a behringer rig the other day at an audition and it didn't do it at all. Something wrong with my head? should i be worried? I mostly bought this set up for the cab, as it was 30 more to buy this head + cabs second hand than buying a cab on its own new, and it was in new condition so... figured it would make a decent enough head to pass me by for a few months, but i certainly don't want it to kill the speakers or tweeter in the 2x10! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alun Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 My practice amp ( a 10watt Sound City I had with my first ever bass in 1988) does the same thing. I think my old Laney did too, but I've not noticed it with my Markbass or the Hartke it replaced. I seem to remember something about them having a delay in the circuit to prevent the pop when starting up, but may be wrong as amps are not my strong point. Will be interested to see what the more knowledgable folk have to say on the matter Cheers, Alun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 I had a Hartke A35 combo which did this too - the little pop and squeak used to be quite amusing and I miss it now! I think it has something to do with capacitors de-charging or something, but it is normal I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam.M Posted November 25, 2007 Author Share Posted November 25, 2007 I thought as much, thanks for the reply's guys! It makes me worried that the speaker may become damaged or lose it's tone quite quickly, it started to sound a bit dead the other day and less growly but i think it could be my strings, they're the ones that were on the bass, fender stock ones, had the bass only a few weeks, though i have been hammering it quite a bit since i got it! i guess it's time to put some decent strings on it... now to research some. The loud bang when turning the amp on still worries me but, i guess it's normal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 [quote name='Adam.M' post='94279' date='Nov 25 2007, 08:04 PM']I thought as much, thanks for the reply's guys! It makes me worried that the speaker may become damaged or lose it's tone quite quickly, it started to sound a bit dead the other day and less growly but i think it could be my strings, they're the ones that were on the bass, fender stock ones, had the bass only a few weeks, though i have been hammering it quite a bit since i got it! i guess it's time to put some decent strings on it... now to research some. The loud bang when turning the amp on still worries me but, i guess it's normal![/quote] Unless it's a *really* loud band it won't harm the speaker - I mean does it just seem really loud because it's the first sound you hear from it and your hearing is still sensitive? I've heard the whistle before, that's probably the op-amps in the preamp becoming unstable as the voltage dies away. Probably harmless. It's not very good engineering to allow those sorts of noises out though. Most power amps have a relay that connects the speaker only after everything's settled down, and disconnects immediately the power is off. It also protects the speakers should anything go badly wrong with the amp; I've seen speakers melted by amps that have suddenly decided to output 50V DC :-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 I have an EB180, 15", its the one with a proper needle dial rather than the led one, and it pauses when it starts up so there is no pop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwordRaven Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 Mine is one of the older EB150 12" jobbies and it doesn't output anywhere near full power to the speaker for a second or two I assume that is to avoid the popping thing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 Yep, not all do but I've had a few SS amps that make some form of 'noise' on start up/switch off. You can limit this with a few simple precautions: gains turned down, mute switches in, instrument cables unplugged from the amp and in some extreme cases (solid state only) I've switched the amp on 'then' inserted the speaker cable, which is already plugged into the cab. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bass_ferret Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 [quote name='warwickhunt' post='122628' date='Jan 18 2008, 08:20 AM']and in some extreme cases (solid state only) I've switched the amp on 'then' inserted the speaker cable, which is already plugged into the cab.[/quote] Cant imagine why this would be necessary and in a lot of cases will destroy the amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legion Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 I don't know if its the same thing but my old Trace Elliot combo used to do that. As far as I remember it didnt do it new but at some point it just started making a loud pop when switching it on. Looking into it I was told that there is some sort of "soft start" circuit that often fails. I guess its purpose is to limit the supply to the speaker until the output circuit has stabilised. Maybe the problem is along those lines? J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MythSte Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 just want to say thats a fantastic picture legion! And theres an ashdown EB at the studio i frequent that makes a boom upon startup. no squeaks though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarPig Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 My old EB-180 combo does that, has done since new (about 2 year ago), nothing bad has happened, so ive got used to it. And my new Mag300H does it aswell, ive found that if you turn down the input/output volumes it helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 [quote name='bass_ferret' post='122636' date='Jan 18 2008, 08:28 AM']Cant imagine why this would be necessary and in a lot of cases will destroy the amp.[/quote] Why should it destroy a SS amp? It would very rapidly destroy a valve amp but SS amps shouldn't generally suffer any harm being started up then having a load attached. Don't take this the wrong way I wouldn't advocate it as the normal start up procedure but I had a particularly archaic amp that chucked out a huge thump on power up regardless of gain settings etc and I'd rather have used the cab connection last method than risk prematurely destroying a driver! That amp is still running today BTW and the present owner still uses the method that I described (yes during both of our ownerships we had it looked at and were both independently told 'they all do that'). I have owned numerous amps that happily run stereo/bi-amp outputs that don't have to have a load attached; GK800rb, Tecamp Black Cat... to name 2 recent ones. I've read literature from manufacturers that state that you can run an amp with no load attached and others that you use a headphone socket fed from the preamp with no load on the outputs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazm Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 IMO the thump and whistle are an indication of either a poor design or a fault. Pete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 [quote name='Legion' post='122643' date='Jan 18 2008, 09:00 AM']I don't know if its the same thing but my old Trace Elliot combo used to do that. As far as I remember it didnt do it new but at some point it just started making a loud pop when switching it on.[/quote] my TE head makes terrible noises if you tuen it off without the mute engaged i got it 2nd hand, so i don't know if it's a getting old thing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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